Features - Enterprise Data Insights:

PIER 1 IMPORTS SELECTS McDATA'S SANavigator

McDATA Corporation, a worldwide leader in open, ultra-high availability storage networking solutions, has announced that Pier 1 Imports has standardized on McDATA's SANavigator software and hardware storage area network (SAN) solutions to lower its IT costs and ensure the highest levels of data access and reliability. McDATA's SANavigator and core- to-edge SAN have allowed Pier 1 to mitigate costs while keeping pace with rapidly growing data volumes -- from four terabytes two years ago to the current, and still rising, 19 terabytes.

Pier 1 Imports, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is an international retailer with nearly 1,000 stores and annual sales of $1.5 billion. Pier 1 recently has experienced significant data growth, driven by an increase in sales and promotions data.

"SANavigator has helped us keep our management costs down," said Sam Scott, manager of enterprise systems for Pier 1. "Unless you have the right tools, you're in a reactive mode, but SANavigator allows us to manage our storage infrastructure proactively. That makes our IT staff more productive and, in turn, our business more effective. Pier 1 is very satisfied with SANavigator."

IT managers at Pier 1 needed SAN management software that was easy to deploy and use but also provided a high level of control over their entire fabric not currently found in competing products. Pier 1's IT staff is tasked with managing a large, complex SAN comprised of over 120 servers, several McDATA Intrepid 6000 Series Directors and Sphereon 3000 Series Fabric Switches, multiple HBAs and IBM storage. After evaluating several solutions, Pier 1 chose McDATA's SANavigator, primarily for its historical performance reporting and other diagnostics features.

"The McDATA SAN deployment at Pier 1 is a great example of how a McDATA solution can, through a combination of our industry-leading software and hardware products, increase business efficiencies and lower costs for customers of any size or industry," said Greg Fahey, vice president of global software sales for McDATA. "McDATA's award-winning SANavigator significantly eases the management of complex storage networks by providing proactive, policy-based management through a single point of control. No other software product on the market today rivals SANavigator in its simplicity and comprehensive fabric management."

About McDATA

McDATA is a worldwide leader in open, ultra-high availability storage networking solutions and provides highly available, scalable and centrally managed storage area networks (SANs) that address enterprise-wide storage problems. McDATA's core-to-edge enterprise SAN solutions improve the reliability and availability of data to simplify SAN management and reduce the total cost of ownership. McDATA extensively pre- tests its solutions to provide IT organizations with the comprehensive tools, methodologies and support essential to robust SAN implementation. McDATA distributes its products through its OEMs, network of resellers and Elite Solution Partners.